A Memorable Memorial Day

Memorial Day is, indeed, a special day set aside to remember those who have sacrificed so much so that we can be free. We honor those with parades, special tributes and ceremonies. Years ago, my young son participated with his Cub Scout troop in placing flags on the solders' graves at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. This had particular meaning to him because his grandfather (my father) was buried there. We don't know if Jack put a flag on his grandpa's grave or not, but I'm sure my dad would have counted it as so.

This year, my daughter, Sami, participated along with the Ritenour High School Color Guard and Marching Band, in the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC. To say this was a once in a lifetime opportunity is an understatement. Each of the kids scraped and sweated to earn every dime to pay for the trip. Some of these kids are seniors and had just celebrated their graduation ceremony last week. This trip also represented Sami's first ever trip out of state. I wanted so badly to come with her, but I couldn't come up with the money to pay for both of us. It was all she could do to earn the money for herself.

Ritenour High School Marching Band was invited to participate in the National Memorial Day Parade by Missouri Representative Lacy Clay. That by itself is pretty impressive. What I found out tonight was that Ritenour beat out about 15 other Missouri schools for this incredible honor. Not only that, Ritenour represented ALL of Missouri - no other Missouri schools were in the parade. Ritenour students showed their state and school pride by putting on an awesome performance for the whole country to see.

I'm so proud of all of them, and especially, of Sami. Great job guys!

Somebody Stop the World - I Want to Get Off Here!

 

I don't know about everyone else, but my head has been spinning for about three weeks and it doesn't look like it will be stopping very soon. Coming up with blog topics and timely ones has been a challenge. It's certainly not for lack of material. Here we go:

The world has witnessed a royal wedding with it's share of controversy (a lavish royal wedding in the middle of a severe economic recession), the queen's two granddaughters showing all of us that even royals can only have taste in their mouths, and lots of reminiscing over the Prince's late mother's wedding. My personal opinion on the whole thing is this - quit your complaining already. The wedding was rather played down compared to Charles and Diana's wedding some 30 years ago. Kate's dress was spot-on as far as I was concerned. Princess Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie, showed the world expensive tastelessness. They were probably irked because Mum wasn't invited the the nuptials and decided to be the tacky relations. Get over it - we all have people like that in our families.

Then there's Osama bin Laden. Frankly, I'm glad this monster is dead. Am I morally conflicted over feeling happiness over his demise? Not really. He didn't lose any sleep over killing 3,000 innocent Americans who were no threat to him. He was clearly a threat to the rest of the world. Fail to see a problem here. However, if I have to endure another analysis of his life, his favorite videos, or his favorite sub-machine gun, I swear I'm going to scream. The monster is dead - let's move on.

Now, my personal life has been even more eventful. In a matter of days, we celebrated mine and my husband's 21st wedding anniversary, my son's 20th birthday, Mother's Day, Valley of the Flowers Parade in which Ritenour Color Guard marched, and my 49th birthday. In the middle of all this "happiness," however, we also lost my only living uncle. He was 87 when he died. Emotional rollercoaster? You could say that. The agenda isn't finished yet. My son just had his final exams, my daughter is preparing for her final exams and practicing for the National Memorial Day march in Washington DC in just two weeks.

With all of this going on, I really haven't had a chance to absorb anything. Even my daughter told me today that she still hasn't had a moment to mourn her great-uncle's death.

This is sad. The world really needs to slow down a bit so we can get off.